Six weeks after parliamentary elections, Denmark will have a government bringing together Social Democrats and Liberals, the type of left-right alliance that it has not had for over 40 years, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday.
"On Thursday, a new government will be presented, composed of the Social Democrats, Liberals and Moderates,” the Social Democratic leader told reporters after informing Queen Margrethe II of the deal.
Accustomed to leading minority governments, the Social Democrats, by far the largest party with 50 seats in the 179-member parliament, wanted to govern across the traditional divide after the 1 November parliamentary elections.
They had to convince the Liberal Party, the main formation of the Danish right, while a centrist party, the Moderates, newly created by former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, supported a coalition government.
For this new government, “there is a lot of compromise, but above all a lot of ambition,” said Frederiksen, who is due to present the government's platform on Wednesday with the leaders of the other two parties.
The new government will be backed by 89 parliamentarians, one short of an absolute majority. However, it should also be able to count on the support of elected MPs from Greenland and the Faroe Islands to have enough support.
